Large piping systems such as those used in commercial buildings, apartment buildings, condominiums, as well as homes and the like that have a broad base of users commonly develop problems with their pipes such as their water and plumbing pipes, and the like. Presently when a failure in a piping system occurs the repair method may involve a number of separate applications. Those repair applications may involve a specific repair to the area of failure such as replacing that section of pipe or the use of a clamping devise and a gasket.
Traditional techniques to correct for the leak have included replacing some or all of a building's pipes. In addition to the large expense for the cost of the new pipes, additional problems with replacing the pipes include the immense labor and construction costs that must be incurred for these projects.
Most piping systems are located behind finished walls or ceilings, under floors, in concrete or underground. From a practical viewpoint simply getting to the problem area of the pipe to make the repair can create the largest problem. Getting to the pipe for making repairs can require tearing up the building, cutting concrete and/or having to dig holes through floors, the foundation or the ground. These labor intensive repair projects can include substantial demolition of a buildings walls and floors to access the existing piping systems. For example, tearing out of the interior walls to access the pipes is an expected result of the demolition necessary to fix existing pipes.
There is usually substantial time-consuming costs for removing the debris and old pipes from the worksite. With these projects both the cost of new pipes and the additional labor to install these pipes are required expenditures. Further, there are additional added costs for the materials and labor to replumb these new pipes along with the necessary wall and floor repairs that must be made to clean up for the demolition effects. For example, getting at and fixing a pipe behind drywall is not completing the repair project. The drywall must also be repaired, and just the drywall type repairs can be extremely costly. Additional expenses related to the repair or replacement of an existing piping system will vary depending primarily on the location of the pipe, the building finishes surrounding the pipe and the presence of hazardous materials such as asbestos encapsulating the pipe. Furthermore, these prior known techniques for making piping repair take considerable amounts of time which results in lost revenue from tenants and occupants of commercial type buildings since tenants cannot use the buildings until these projects are completed.
Finally, the current pipe repair techniques are usually only temporary. Even after encountering the cost to repair the pipe, the cost and inconvenience of tearing up walls or grounds and if a revenue property the lost revenue associated with the repair or replacement, the new pipe will still be subject to the corrosive effects of fluids such as water that passes through the pipes.
Over the years many different attempts and techniques have been proposed for cleaning water type pipes with chemical cleaning solutions. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,352 to Mueller; U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,629 to Ludwig et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,395 to Smith; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,632 to Ludwig et al. However, these systems generally require the use of chemical solutions such as liquid acids, chlorine, and the like, that must be run through the pipes as a prerequisite prior to any coating of the pipes.
Other systems have been proposed that use dry particulate materials as a cleaning agent that is sprayed from mobile devices that travel through or around the pipes. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,427 to Stolz; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,016 to Rose. However, these traveling devices generally require large diameter pipes to be operational and cannot be used inside of pipes that are less than approximately 6 inches in diameter, and would not be able to travel around narrow bends. Thus, these devices cannot be used in small diameter pipes found in potable water piping systems that also have sharp and narrow bends.
Other repair type techniques for sealing and repairing pipes have included, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,209 to Naf; U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,613 to Koga; U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,409 to Stang; U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,412 to Marx et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,148 to Hilbush.
Hilbush '148 describes a process for sealing laid gas pipes by blowing in a foamed sealing emulsion. The foam settles on the internal wall and condenses there. In the case of leaks, it tends to settle in larger quantities which makes this technique unsuitable for many applications. This method is expressly suited only to gas pipes; solid additions to the sealing emulsion are neither taught nor made obvious.
Marx, '412 describes a repair process in which the portion of the pipe with the leak is sealed at the front and rear ends. A specially stabilized emulsion is then pressed in which issues at the leak, is destabilized there and coagulates so that the leak is sealed. Actual solid sealing materials are not therefore pressed into the pipes and the vehicle is water, not gas.
Stang '409 describes the sealing of leaks in laid pipes by very fine substances having a high capillary action. The very fine and difficult to use substance is arranged externally at the leak and is watered there. The capillary pressure thus obtained counteracts the delivery pressure of the medium flowing in the pipe. The very fine insulating material must be laid onto the conduit from the exterior, after excavation of the leak.
Koga '613 describes a process and an apparatus for the internal repair of laid pipes by means of “plastic mist” conveyed in a gas stream. It is unclear whether actual leaks are also sealed with it. More importantly, this process does not appear to be able to immediately produce the plastic mist necessary to work.
Naf '209 describes s process where a sealant is introduced with water and is part of a water sealant mixture. The water sealant mixture fills a pipe resulting in adding multiple steps to the process of filling, setting up a hydraulic recirculation system, draining and drying the piping system. The water/sealant mixture may also flow from the leaking section creating water damage to the immediate area.
None of the prior art techniques describe a process where a barrier coating and leaks are sealed with a barrier coating application combined with a leak sealing operation.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems where providing a barrier coating and sealing leaks is accomplished in piping systems in a single operation.